Shalom from Israel!

Ashkelon, January 6, 2008

Hi everyone! We have been in Israel now for 3 days and things have been incredible. Sorry for the delay of the updates, but we've been very busy celebrating Shabbat and starting to tour the country. Pictures will come soon, but for now, here are some student postings.
Maxine Squires


Boker Tov!
We’ve just left the MegaEvent with about four thousand other Taglit: birthright- Israel participants, from all over the globe, and what an event! Our first day in Jerusalem was full of amazing views, from the old city skyline at sundown to an impromptu dance party to all of us singing “Salaam, aleinu ve al kol haolam, salaam” (peace to the whole world) just now at the Mega Event. But that’s not all we’ve seen: we’ve also had the opportunity to see the bunker where the Declaration of Independence was signed and Hatikva first played, an underground super-secret bullet factory for the War of Independance, a yoga shabbat service, and so much more in just three days! We’ve all become a lot closer to Israel and to one another. We participated in group discussions where we debated whether the Jewish people are normal or special and how we felt connected to Israel. It’s truly an amazing experience, learning about everything that’s happened in the short 60 years since Israel became an independent Jewish state in 1948 and at times overwhelming when we try to order falafel and shwarma.
Personally, I feel better than ever about my decision to become more active in the Virginia Tech Jewish community, and coming to Israel may have been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Israel is an amazing country, and being here in our homeland makes me feel so proud and I know that whatever the trip brings, I will relish as much as the pita and hummus I had for dinner.
Very tired, but very, very happy,
Sabrina Wilbern, Virginia Tech


Shalom from Eretz Yisrael!!!
We’re three days into our journey to and around our homeland, and things couldn’t be going any better. So far we have been spending our time in the central portion of the country, based out of our hotel in Ashquelon. We have done quite a bit of sightseeing in and around Tel Aviv-Yafo, including Independence hall and the Israeli version of the Pentagon (don’t remember the name though it was some pretty sweet architecture). We also went to Yitzchak Rabin Square where we discussed the “special-ness” of the Jewish people (apparently we are quite special…).
Today, Sunday, can pretty much be described as awesome, as the entire day was simply amazing. We started the day with a fun Icebreaker and then another interesting discussion. Following that we visited Ayalon Institute, which was a factory hidden under a kibbutz that was used to make bullets from 1945 until 1948. Then we went to visit the Israeli Armored division memorial and museum, where we learned abou the history of the armored corps of the IDF, and managed to fit everyone on our bus onto one tank.
Time to go pass out,
Zach Gottlieb
Richmond ‘10

P.S. No trouble yet mom…